These Coffee and Baileys Doughnuts are fried, yeast donuts filled with whipped coffee pastry cream, dipped in an Irish Cream glaze, and finished with a drizzle of chocolate.

Doughnuts…or is it donuts? I don’t know, honestly.

What I do know is that doughnuts are happiness. Everyone loves a doughnut. Some people like cake doughnuts, some like baked, some like yeasted and fried. Filled or not filled, glazed, iced, sprinkled.

There are so many choices and the possibilities are endless.

Home Baker’s Collective Challenge

That’s why I chose doughnuts – or donuts – for this month’s challenge on the Home Baker’s Collective.

I knew that the bakers would all come up with incredible versions of these amazing treats. They definitely didn’t let me down!

Please check out the Collective and all the other bakers’ recipes from all of our monthly challenges. We all love contributing to the collective and challenging each other to come up with new recipes!

Coffee and Baileys

How could you go wrong?? Coffee and Baileys is a classic combination. Although I prefer my coffee black in the morning and Bailey’s after dinner, straight up, most people combine the two.

This combination seemed like an easy one that everyone would love. Oh, how right I was! They were delicious! There is a reason that I don’t make donuts all the time. We can’t resist them!

I REALLY love making doughnuts and I don’t mind eating them, as well! Having a donut (or three) just makes people happy.

When I made this batch, I only filled half of them with the coffee pastry cream because my family would have eaten ALL of them and we are trying to not over-indulge.

Half of the batter was cut with a traditional doughnut cutter, fried, dipped in a milk glaze, and covered with sprinkles. These were promptly delivered next doughts so that their kids could get a sugar rush instead of us!

The Coffee and the Cream (Irish Cream, that is!)

The coffee that I used in this pastry cream is the coffee that my family drinks every day…Camerons!

We have two favorites from Cameron’s and we buy them in bulk. We switch back and forth between their Highlander Grog and their Toasted Southern Pecan.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Flavored coffee, every single day??

Yes. Every day.

Cameron’s seems to have mastered the art of flavoring their coffee without overdoing it. In this pastry cream, I used the Highlander Grog because it has just a hint of caramel. The caramel flavor is PERFECT with either a milk glaze or the Irish Cream glaze on these doughnuts.

The addition of chocolate sets if off even better!

You can use whatever coffee you prefer and have on hand. But I highly recommend Camerons – they even ship directly to your house if you order from their website. They have tea too!

I used Baileys Irish Cream in this glaze but, let’s be honest, Bailey’s is expensive and there are other Irish Cream brands out there. I have bought Caroline’s and Brendan’s before and they are just as good at half the price.

The only reason that I had Bailey’s on hand was that I received it as a gift. What can I say, my friends know me well.

Two days to make doughnuts??

Yes, this recipe is made over two days. Actually, my recipe starts the dough the night before and is then refrigerated for about 12 hours. The reason for this is that the long fermentation helps to build a TON of flavor in the dough.

Can you make these all in one day? Absolutely. You can make the dough all in one go and skip the refrigeration. Just mix all of the dough at once and allow to proof on the counter until doubled in size.

But doing part of the process the night before – starting the dough and making the pastry cream – just makes this recipe more approachable.

So give this recipe a try! You can even make the doughnuts and change out the filling with whatever you choose! I would love to fill this master doughnut recipe with lemon curd – my favorite condiment!!

Save those egg whites!

This recipe uses quite a few egg yolks, both in the dough and the pastry cream. PLEASE do not waste those egg whites!

You can store them in a container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for a couple of months.

Use them to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream for a cake or cupcakes, Macarons, or a Pavlova. Check out the recipes by clicking the links!

Coffee and Baileys Doughnuts

Recipe by Tanya Ott

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Proofing

3 hours

Ingredients

For the Doughnuts
155 mL (3/4 cup) water, room temperature
21 grams (6 teaspoons) instant yeast, divided
500 grams (4 cups) all-purpose flour, divided
80 grams (1/3 cup) whole milk, at room temperature
57 grams (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
65 grams (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
5 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
30 grams (1/4 cup) dry milk
Oil for frying
For the Pastry Cream
240 grams (1 cup) whole milk
20 grams (About 2 Tablespoons) ground coffee
55 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Dash of salt
3 egg yolks
21 grams (2 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, diced
For the Whipped Cream
240 mL heavy cream
30 grams (1/4 cup) powdered sugar
For the Glaze
250 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar
3 to 4 Tablespoons Irish Cream (or milk)
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted, if desired
1 teaspoon coconut oil or vegetable oil, if desired

Directions

Make the Doughnuts
In a large bowl, mix together the water, 7 grams of instant yeast and half of the flour (250 grams). Mix together with a spatula to incorporate all of the flour, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and set on the counter to warm up.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachement or in a large bowl to mix by hand, add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes, until a loose dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and add the refrigerated dough. Mix with the dough hook for 6 to 7 minutes, until the dough comes together and slaps at the side of the bowl. If mixing by hand, knead on a lightly floured countertop for 10 minutes. Be careful not to add too much flour. Just keep kneading and work through the wet stage until it come together!
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and proof in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Lightly flour your countertop and dump the dough out. Roll out with a rolling pin to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter or a glass. Alternatively, if you want ring doughnuts with no filling, you can cut with a doughnut cutter. Reroll the scraps and cut again until you use up all the dough. Lay the cut rounds onto two lined baking sheets. Cover with towels and set in a warm place to proof for 45 minutes to an hour, until puffed up.
When the doughnuts have proofed for 30 minutes, add the oil to a pan on the stove, at least 3 inches deep, or into a fryer. Heat the oil to 360F. When the doughnuts are ready, gently drop 2 or 3 into the oil, depending on the size of your pan or fryer. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes and then flip over. Fry for another 2 minutes. I have found that it is best to fry one doughnut, cool it slightly and then check the middle to ensure that it is cooked. Adjust frying time based on your test doughnut. Make sure that the oil stays close to 360F. It will drop slightly when the dough is added but should come back up as the doughnuts fry.
Remove doughnuts from oil and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all of the doughnuts are fried.
Make the Pastry Cream
While the doughnuts proof, make the pastry cream. I like to make it the night before frying the doughnuts so that it is completely chilled.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and the ground coffee until very hot but not boiling. Turn off heat, cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes to one hour. Strain the milk through a fine mesh strainer, rinse the pan to ensure all of the coffee grounds are removed and reheat the milk until very hot but not boiling.
While the milk is reheating, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch for 1 minute.
Gently and slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking the whole time. When the first bit of hot milk is incorporated, slowly pour in the rest of the hot milk, whisking while you pour. Pour all of the mixture back into the pan and return to medium-low heat. Stir constantly with the whisk until the mixture thickens. Do not whisk air into the mixture – I just like to use the whisk since it is already dirty!
When the mixture is thickened, pour into a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and push through the strainer with a spatula. Scrape the bottom of the strainer to get all of the pastry cream. Add the butter to the pastry cream, stir until melted and mixed in. Cover with plastic wrap pressed on to the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until needed.
Fill the Doughnuts
To finish the filling, whisk the heavy cream to medium stiff peaks. Add the powdered sugar and whisk just until combined and almost to stiff peaks. Be careful not to over mix or you will have butter!
In a bowl, fold the pastry cream into the whipped cream just until incorporated. Alternatively, you can pipe the pastry cream directly into the doughnuts without the addition of the whipped cream. This will give you a heavier cream filling with a stronger coffee flavor. Adding the whipped cream will give you a lighter filling with a lighter coffee flavor.
Put a piping tip into a piping bag, put the filling into the bag and pipe the filling into the doughnut. It can be tough to judge the amount of filling but if you place the doughnut in the palm of one hand and pipe with the other, you can feel the weight of the doughnut change. Set aside while you make the glaze.
Make the glaze
In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons irish cream (or milk, if desired). Add more Irish Cream until the consistency is thin but not running. The more liquid you add, the runnier your glaze will be and less glaze will stick to each donut. Dunk each donut on both sides to coat with the glaze and drain on a cooling rack that is placed on top of a baking sheet (this will catch the runoff – you can whisk the runoff back into the bowl if needed and desired!)
Drizzle, if desired
Finely chop the chocolate and add the oil. Microwave on low for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until completely melted. Pur into a pastry bag and drizzle over the doughnuts.

Notes

This recipe uses A LOT of egg yolks! Don’t throw out the egg whites! You can put them in a freezer bag or airtight, freezer-proof bowl and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Use them for white cake, swiss meringue buttercream or macarons.